Richard - Marigat/Lake Bogoria/Lake Baringo

Marigat/Lake Bogoria/Lake Baringo:

The World Cup drama has come to an end with Spain as champions and much depression over the manner of Ghana’s loss to Uruguay. And so its  time to focus on my project!

Using capillary electrophoresis genotyping, I attained my first results (finally after 6 weeks of work!) and so can start my analysis of the different malaria parasite genotypes that have been detected. With so many great opportunities to visit interesting places and so many things I want to do and see it is hard to keep focused on the task of writing a thesis. Dr. Waitumbi keeps us on our toes however, and both Rachel and I are to give a presentation next week to update the staff of our progress and our objectives for the remaining weeks in Kenya.

The opportunity arose to travel to Marigat general hospital up north of Kisumu with George and Duke (staff at Walter Reed) who were to conduct training there. It was a great chance to visit a rural hospital setting and observe how it operates. (It was also a great chance to visit the nearby Lake Baringo and Bogoria, sure why not?)

The drive from Kisumu took us through sugar cane, tea and maize plantations and we witnessed some stunning scenery as we meandered through the great Rift Valley on our way to Marigat.

Picture: Our friend Emily enjoying the view of the rift valley.

The valley is a place that would not see many travellers (it doesn’t even make the Lonely Planet!). It may not have the lush mountain to climb or the interesting animals to see, but visiting here gives you a real experience of rural Kenya, the kind of place that you are stared at walking down the street and kids run out of their school to talk to/shout at you! (maybe I just like the attention but it was a great experience)

Visiting Marigat hospital was an eye opening experience and gave us an insight into the real-life inequities faced by health workers in developing countries, a topic we have discussed in lectures throughout the year. It was my favourite experience in Kenya to date and has confirmed my decision to come back to college to undertake the M.Sc. in Immunology and Global Health to be a worthwhile one.

At the hospital, we were greeted by two nurses, Winnie and Diana. Both work extremely hard to provide essential healthcare in the face of the minimal resources at their disposal.  They showed us the laboratory where we delivered a centrifuge and George conducted training to the staff.  The centrifuge delivered was a step up from the previous one the lab staff were using.

A manual centrifuge used when no available of electricity.

Laboratory staff are working very hard to ensure the service they provide is at the top standard and it can’t be an easy feat given the resources they have to work with. The training of staff by more experienced individuals can go a long way to ensuring the provision of a better standard of health care. The smallest piece of help I was able to give has shown me the benefits of the CDPC programme. A truly worthwhile experience.

We also got the chance to visit the nearby Lake Bogoria, its hot springs and geysers and its thousands upon thousands of flamingos all walking and squawking in tandem which made for a cacophony of sound.

Some nice zebra running past the flamingos of Lake Bogoria. Baringo gave us a chance to view some hippos and crocodiles before sunset It was there where we decided to stay the night, in a quaint “banda” along the shore. When being shown to my bed I happened to notice a scorpion, happy as Larry, crawling across my pillow. I don’t have a photo because I was outside the door in a flash screaming my head off!!! Needless to say, I didn’t sleep much that night….